A family of five will spend this Christmas in a spanking new home that has come courtesy the Hattieville Resource Centre (HRC) after a fire destroyed their dwelling place in July.

Eloise Hyde, a Justice of the Peace of Hattieville Village, received the key to the three-bedroom concrete bungalow house on Monday from the HRC.
In her “thank you” speech she told the gathering that her loss was so devastating that “I didn’t know if I was sitting on my feet, or my bottom or my two hands.” She had lived in the family-owned house for more than two decades.

Linsford Castillo, one of the directors of the HRC, promised to help the family rebuild, but said that the pledge he made seemed at times unrealistic. But he stuck to his guns and got the community onboard to bring it to fruition.

Because of the community effort, he said, the Hyde family “is not indebted to any financial institution, any insurance company or any politician.”

The house is valued at $60,000 to $70,000 and came through support from several businesses and individuals, including Habet & Habet, Rodla Construction and Koop Sheet Metal.

Contractors, Windell Luis and Lennox McCauley of Hattieville village built the house free of cost as their contribution towards the initiative.